Tag: miss major

In recent years, crowdfunding has become a popular way to fund everything from businesses to baby showers. Crowdfunding is essentially asking strangers on the internet for money, and it has become entirely commonplace in today’s society.

Merriam-Webster defines crowdfunding as “the practice of obtaining needed funding (as for a new business) by soliciting contributions from a large number of people especially from the online community.”

Common crowdfunding websites include GoFundMe, YouCaring, Kickstarter, and Ko-fi. Now people even use other payment apps and websites like Venmo, Cashapp, and Paypal to accrue donations.

Some view crowdfunding as digital panhandling. Some believe it’s the same as charity work. There are certainly two sides to be considered. On one hand, there are people who use the easy availability of GoFundMe to scam, lie, and cheat. There are plenty of examples of it, and many often make it to the news – there was a woman recently who scammed Trump supporters out of thousands of dollars by lying and saying she was kicked out of her house for supporting the president.

On the other hand, many rely on crowdfunding to survive. Miss Major, a prominent transgender activist known for participating in the Stonewall riots, relies heavily on a monthly “giving-circle” through the crowdsourcing site Fundly. Her work in LGBTQ activism is regarded as unparalleled, which prompts many people to donate.

And while it’s true that sometimes, crowdfunding can pay for cancer treatments and send homeless teens to college, there are times when it’s used in unethical ways or for unethical purposes. This raises the questions: how did crowdfunding come to be, and what is the future of it? Where do ethics come into play?

I will attempt to answer or at least explore these questions, focusing on the differences between the way crowdsourcing was meant to be used and the way it is utilized, and what that says about our society, as well as looking into how crowdsourcing will change in the future.